His Atonement, Her Existence
by tian-shi-de-chi-bang
Summary: His every breath sends him deeper into the pits of hell while her every heartbeat chains her in the arms of emptiness. When they meet, his every breath will become her very existence and her every heartbeat will be his salvation. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** His Atonement, Her Existence

**Summary: **His every breath sends him deeper into the pits of hell while her every heartbeat chains her in the arms of emptiness. When they meet, his every breath will become her very existence and her every heartbeat will be his salvation.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine, although, I wished it was mine. But on the brighter side, I can write fanfics to my liking and pair up Gaara and Sakura unlike the manga/anime!!!! LoL!!!!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Blood  
**

"How's the food?"

"Fine."

"Not too spicy?"

A moment of hesitation, as if the younger of the two female sitting across from each other in a small kitchen was contemplating on answering truthfully or lying so as not to hurt the other's feelings .

"No." Sakura lied, ignoring the spicy flavor of the curry sauce biting the insides of her mouth.

Tsunade sighed at the girl who sat at the opposite end of the table from her. The eighteen year old girl clad only in a light bathrobe was clutching hard on her eating utensils on either side of her plate, obviously forcing herself to chew on the offensive mouthful of curry rice in her mouth. She threw a sympathetic look at the girl's bowed head and then at the visible bruises on her neck and her chests and the rest that disappeared beneath the thin bathrobe she was wearing. Anger overtook her sympathy at the sight of the bluish stains on her porcelain skin as she poured herself a glassful of sake before forcing it down her throat in one gulp and bringing the empty glass down on the table with a loud thump. Who knows how many more bruises were hidden beneath that thin bathrobe she was wearing.

"I've never really cooked anything before so you don't have to eat it if the taste doesn't suit you." The blonde woman announced as she poured herself another glassful of sake.

The pink haired girl looked up and stared blankly at the blonde woman gulping down another glassful of sake. For a brief moment, she wondered how this woman was at any point related to her mother. The woman before her was boisterous and rude while her mother had been the epitome of kindness and gentleness when she was still alive. To say that they were actually cousins was like saying that the devil has a pair of white magnificent wings.

Tsunade finished her drink and looked directly ahead of her. Sakura, on the other hand, immediately lowered her eyes, and avoided the eye contact. She played with the food on her plate and Tsunade heaved out another deep sigh.

"Sakura," she began, carefully choosing the tone of her voice so she wouldn't sound too comforting or too distant. "Don't think about it too much. You'll be able to get over this incident. Just don't force yourself."

Sakura gasped silently, her eyes widening with fear the moment she was reminded of what happened last night. The visions of what happened twenty-two hours ago came back. The smell of sweat and alcohol overcame her senses. She struggled to breathe; the air around her suddenly became thick. Frantically, she shook her head from side to side and closed her eyes tightly to block the uncontrollable visions flooding her mind. But the trauma didn't stop there. Muffled grunts and groans of pleasure echoed in her ears and she hysterically brought her hands to cover her ears from those disgusting sounds.

Tsunade panicked when she saw her hyperventilating on her seat. Disregarding the glass of sake in her hand, she stood abruptly and rushed to her side to soothe her. She reached out o touch Sakura on the shoulders, calling out her name to snap her out of it. "Sakura!"

But Tsunade's touch only made her worst. Suddenly, it wasn't just the smell, the visions and the sounds that haunted her. As Tsunade's hand made contact with her shoulders, there was suddenly no bathrobe to shield her naked body from the rough hands grazing every skin it made contact with. Suddenly, it wasn't Tsunade who was touching her. _He _was touching her.

Sakura cringed from her touch. "Don't…" she whispered, almost begging.

"Sakura, it's me. It's Tsunade." Tsunade tried to reason out as she continued soothing her back.

Suddenly, everything was too much and Sakura knew that she'll go crazy if she remain for another second. Without another rational thought, she stood up abruptly, pushing her chair with the back of her legs with so much force that it collapsed on the wooden floor with a loud thump.

"Stop it!" she shouted before turning around and running towards her room on the second floor, completely ignoring Tsunade's cries muffled by her hand on her ears.

Sakura ran blindly towards her sanctuary, her footsteps echoing around the tiny hallway leading to her room. As soon as she reached the doorknob, she yanked open the doors before banging it close behind her. She didn't bother to open the lights, letting the moonlight seeping through the thin curtains of her window guide her as she made her way towards her side table. Yanking the drawers open, she searched frantically for something that would take everything away.

Tsunade could hear her from outside her room rustling through the contents of her drawer. She banged loudly on the door between them. "Sakura! Open the door! Sakura!" she shouted, her cries muffled by the thick door preventing her to reach Sakura.

In her room covered by nothing but the darkness and the moonlight, Sakura found what she was searching for. There, lying in the deepest corner of her drawer, a small piece of metallic object shone brightly against the moonlight. It looked terrifying at first but as she stared longer, her need to forget overcame her fear.

Without giving it another thought, she took the metallic object in her dainty fingers. Its sharp edge coaxed her and the cold feel of metal against the skin of her fingers comforted her. Briefly, she wondered if it would feel as comforting on other parts of her skin.

"Sakura! Open this, damn it!" Tsunade's voice broke her line of thoughts for a split second.

But in the middle of her raging emotions, it wasn't Tsunade's worried voice that she heard. It was _his_ voice, demanding her to open the only barrier to her safety. Her fear and panic escalated and there was no other comfort aside from the metallic blade between her fingers.

Slowly, her breathing labored, she placed the cold sharp edge of the blade on her heated skin. She shut her eyes tightly and pressed the blade on her skin, drawing out a little blood. Taking in a deep breath to steady her hand, she pulled the blade across her skin, feeling its sharp edge cut deep through her epidermis and veins.

She cringed from the sudden pain that cut through the nerves of her wrist. The metallic smell of blood filled her nose. Suddenly, there was no vision of violence, no smell of lust and no heated touch. There was only pain and the feel of her blood slowly flowing through the open wound on her wrist. With every drop of blood leaving her body, she was slowly finding the release she needed.

_Would it make me forget too?_ She sadly wondered.

"Sakura!" Tsunade's muffled voice was the last thing she heard before she felt herself collapse against the soft mattress of her bed.

* * *

A shiny red 2010 Mercedes-Benz sports car suddenly screeched to a stop in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. Inside, a blond eighteen year old boy braced his hands on the dashboard to keep himself from hitting the windshield due to the sudden change of momentum. He looked at his red haired companion and saw the fixed glare in his eyes and the tight grip of his hands on the steering wheel.

"Is something wrong?" Naruto inquired as he glanced briefly from side to side to check for any possible sign of danger.

Gaara gripped at the steering wheel tighter but his eyes remained focused at the empty road before him. The metallic stench was clouding his senses, waking the sleeping lust for human blood he managed to burry years ago. As his hunger forced to overtake his reason, he gripped at the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white, as he held onto his decreasing amount of sanity.

"Gaara?" Naruto's voice managed to go through the craving thoughts bouncing in his head. "What the hell is wrong?"

"I smell blood." Gaara said through gritted teeth.

At the said declaration, Naruto relaxed on his seat and rolled his eyes. He thought there was an unknown danger lurking somewhere near.

"Of course, you smell blood." Naruto said sarcastically, throwing him arms around to state the obvious. "After living for hundreds of years, don't you find it a little stupid to only realize now that you can smell blood? It's the only thing that could trigger our senses in a fraction of a second."

For a while, Gaara fought the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't need to be reminded of who they are, of what they are. The undead, blood-drinkers, the cold ones, the devil's pawn and sometimes, the devil himself. The list could go on and on but they would all mean one word. Vampire. For almost five hundred years, he walked the face of the earth, facing death, surviving death and being death himself. He knew and saw how people feared them in the early ages and how they came to see them into mere mythical creatures that never existed.

An angry hiss escaped Gaara's gritted teeth, baring his set of sharp, pointed fangs against the moonlight. "Can't you smell it?"

Naruto looked at him as if he was crazy. "Even if I will myself to not smell it, it would be useless. The stench is everywhere, Gaara. It's what we crave. It's what keeps us alive."

"But this one's too strong. It's dominating the rest." Gaara explained, looking around for some sign where the strong metallic stench was coming. Unfortunately, there was nothing but the darkness and the little glow emanating from the row of houses around them.

Naruto frowned at him. "Everything smells the same for me." He said, sniffing at the air around them.

This time, it was Gaara's turn to frown at his blond companion. Surely he was just playing with him. How could he not smell it? The stench was too strong. So strong that it almost took all his strength not to go and hunt for the owner of the addicting smell and satisfy his craving need. Never had human blood smelt so addicting and so mouth watering as this one.

"That's impossible." Gaara hissed as he fought to control his hunger for human blood, particularly, _this_ blood.

"Gaara," Naruto placed a comforting hand on Gaara's arm. "Fight it. We don't feed on human blood anymore. We may be vampires but we're not monsters."

Gaara took in a deep breath. The metallic stench of blood filled his nose. He clenched his jaws and fought the growing hunger taking over his senses. It wasn't easy to control their lust for blood. During their first years, it was all they crave for, it was the only thing that could keep them alive. But before they became vampires, they were human first and this little bit of humanity they have left became their atonement for the people they've killed and for being what they were. Their lust for human blood was slowly satisfied with animal blood instead. It wasn't easy but after years of practice and discipline, it became bearable.

"I know." Gaara said, shaking his head to clear his mind and help fight off the craving of his body. "It's just that…" His voice trailed off, not really sure what to say.

"Let's just go, okay? Kakashi's waiting for us." Naruto decided to divert his attention back to their current task at hand.

Gaara relaxed, willing himself to get used to the strong stench filling his senses. He took in a deep breath, ignoring the craving he felt for human blood. Meeting with Kakashi was more important than thinking of satisfying or fighting his need.

Without another thought, he shifted gears deftly and looked at the rear view mirror to make sure they haven't caused any suspicious traffic. Finding just a lone ambulance fast approaching their stationary car, he stared back at the stretch of road before them. It would be too suspicious if the ambulance caught up with them. Without wasting another second, he stepped hard on the gas pedal, tires screeching as he maneuvered the car across the silent neighborhood, taking them closer to their goal and further from the pink haired girl lying unconscious in the ambulance trailing behind them.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Here it is!!!!! Chapter 1!!!! hope it goes to your liking!!!!! This is my first time writing a naruto fanfic and a vampire fic too!!!! honestly, been reading too much of the twilight series so... yeah... bear with me!!!! **Please read and review**!!!! Constructive criticisms are also welcome!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** His Atonement, Her Existence

**Summary: **His every breath sends him deeper into the pits of hell while her every heartbeat chains her in the arms of emptiness. When they meet, his every breath will become her very existence and her every heartbeat will be his salvation.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine, although, I wished it was mine. But on the brighter side, I can write fanfics to my liking and pair up Gaara and Sakura unlike the manga/anime!!!! LoL!!!!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Fear**

Gaara deftly maneuvered the red Mercedes in the vacant parking space between a black BMW and a silver Toyota in front of the private Konoha Hospital. He clicked off the engine and looked at his blond companion. With a curt nod, they both opened the doors and stepped out of the car, their bodies moving so synchronized as if following an unknown music.

Then, time stopped. For the onlookers within the vicinity of the parking lot, that is. All eyes were suddenly on them and both neither seemed farced by the abrupt attention they could get just by simply breathing. A woman wearing a floral knee-length dress dared wink at Gaara and gave him a seductive smile. Gaara snorted and turned away from the malicious look she was giving him, earning a disappointed glare from the woman as she stomped off to hide her embarrassment.

"That wasn't very nice." Naruto murmured as he sent an apologetic look at the retreating back of the girl.

Gaara kept the thin line of his lips, refusing to acknowledge what Naruto just said. Instead, he directed his attention to the building standing before them.

Konoha Medical Hospital stood before them in 50 years of unrivaled medical service from the topmost surgical team. From the parking lot, where the two of the strongest vampires ever created stood, the stench of blood filled the air. Gaara took in a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. Instinctively, his hands clenched at his sides. _It_'s still there. Stronger than before. Nearer than before.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked when he noticed the rigid frame of his companion. "It's still there?"

Gaara nodded once. "Smells nearer too."

"You think the owner's in there?" Naruto inquired, eyeing the row of windows adorning the scaled wall of the hospital before turning back to watch Gaara's rigid expression.

A silent pause, as if the other was checking every room and corner of the hospital for any sign of the owner of the addicting smell. After a few brief moments, Gaara unclenched his fists and crossed his arms across his chest. Slowly, he shook his head to answer Naruto's question. There was none. Although the smell became stronger, there wasn't any sign that its owner is within the confines of the hospital.

"That's good." Naruto sighed with relief and then looked back at Gaara. "You think you could control it longer?"

Gaara chuckled. It seems the blond has forgotten that between the two of them, he was the one who has a stronger sense of control. "Do you even need to ask?" he smirked arrogantly as he held the sleeves of his dark blue shirt against his wrist and pushed it up to his elbows to let his arms breathe the cool night air. "Let's go." He said with finality as he took a step closer to Konoha Hospital.

Naruto followed closely behind him, adjusting the collar of his black polo shirt before placing his hands inside the pocket of his black slacks. Within a few minutes, they crossed the parking lot and were merely separated by a narrow driveway for ambulances and cars or taxis dropping off visitors or out patients in front of the hospital. Without glancing at their right to check for arriving cars, Gaara and Naruto crossed the narrow driveway with sturdy strides until they reached the front, automatic, glass entrance of the hospital.

Gaara stopped for a moment, causing Naruto to stop just a step behind him. Lazily, he stared at the façade of the hospital, letting his eyes roam from the frosted emergency glass doors to their left and the elegant transparent automatic doors right in front of them. For a brief second, Gaara studied the hospital lobby from their place through the transparent glass entrance. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he cocked his head behind him and looked at Naruto.

Naruto, however, was greatly absorbed by something to his left. His brows furrowing, Gaara looked at the direction where the blond was staring at. He found nothing except for the irregular pattern of automobiles zooming past in his line of vision and the constant bystanders approaching and leaving the hospital. But he knew better than to be deceived by the normality of the scene before him. If Naruto was acting so absorbed, which was in any case occur very rarely, it means something could be wrong.

Cautiously, Gaara turned around to face Naruto. "What is it?" he asked, hiding the edge of alarm in his voice.

Naruto continued staring at his left as if waiting for something to arrive. "I can hear her cry." He softly whispered but loud enough for Gaara to hear.

The furrow on Gaara's brows deepened. "Hear who?" he asked, scanning the faces of the bystanders passing them.

"Sakura…" Naruto whispered the unknown name as if in a trance.

Before Gaara could ask who _Sakura_ is, an ambulance suddenly appeared in their line of vision, disturbing the deathly silence of the hospital with the eerie sound of its siren. It stopped a few centimeters away from where the two were standing. Gaara and Naruto watched as two paramedics jumped out of the front seats of the ambulance and started approaching the back to open the doors. As soon as the doors open, Gaara's jaw tightened and his fists clenched once again at his sides.

The metallic stench was everything Gaara could smell. It was _his_ blood. _He'_s in that ambulance. The hunger, the craving, the lust, it was all he could feel. His blood is all he could smell and it's all he would ever want. Feeling his control slip, Gaara approached the ambulance with strides like that of a predator stalking his prey.

"Gaara?" Naruto called out a step behind him just as the nurses and doctors from the emergency ward approached the paramedics lowering a stretcher on a hospital bed they had in tow.

And then it hit him. From the look at Gaara's predatory eyes and the low hissing sounds he was making, he knew he was beyond rational thinking and ready to strike. And his prey? The bleeding pink haired girl lying on the stretcher merely obscured by the bodies of the nurses and doctors trying to give first aid treatment to her wounds.

"Gaara, don't." Naruto's words seeped through his gritted teeth as he reached out his hand to touch Gaara's cold shoulders.

The coldness emanating from Naruto's cold hand on his shoulder seeped through the cotton fabric of Gaara's shirt onto his cold skin. He felt the pressure of his fingers against his lean muscles, promising a serious bruising and a broken shoulder blade if he doesn't stop advancing. This, somehow, awoke his rationality and forced a bit of his predatory instincts into his subconscious just enough for him to think clearly. Forcefully, he shook his head and cleared his mind. The thoughts became somehow manageable but the smell strongly filled his every breath. The hunger still remained and the need to satisfy his craving intensified with every passing second.

"Not here. Not now." Naruto warned in a dangerously low voice.

A low predatory sound escaped through Gaara's tightly gritted teeth and his lips parted to bare his fangs against the moonlight and the naked eyes of the bystanders. With the little bit of rationality he managed to regain, he forced his hand to clamp over his mouth to obscure his bared fangs from the human eyes around them. His rapacious glare, however, remained on the pink haired girl lying half-conscious on the hospital bed. Vaguely, Gaara heard one of the doctors order the others to wheel her inside and he unconsciously counted the seconds as they prepared to move her.

Just as they were about to push the hospital bed towards the frosted emergency doors, Gaara saw her head roll to the side as her half-lidded eyes slowly opened.

In that instant, pained emeralds met with hungry turquoise.

Time stopped and for the first time in almost five hundred years of his existence as a vampire, Gaara heard the loud pounding of his heart against his chest.

* * *

Sakura's head tossed around wildly against the white hospital pillow. Rough hands roamed wildly across the naked skin of her body. Wet, lustful tongue assaulted her neck and shoulders. Tears streamed down the porcelain skin of her face. She wanted to scream but her voice seemed to have died down somewhere in her throat replaced by the occasional low whimpers escaping her bruised lips. She felt the sudden pain between her thighs and she finally found the voice she lost a while ago. Parting her bruised lips, she let out an ear-splitting scream that disturbed the silence of the hospital and woke the sleeping blonde woman beside her.

"Sakura what-?!" Tsunade's voice died in her throat when she saw Sakura's state.

Sakura was huddled on the hospital bed, her arms wrapped protectively around her. Tears were streaming from her tightly closed eyes down the porcelain skin of her temples. She fought hard to control her breathing but all she got was the ragged breaths filling out her lungs. The nightmare had been so vivid that she fought to push the flood of memories from yesterday night.

"Sakura…" Tsunade called out softly, slowly reaching out her hand to touch her.

Sakura felt her movement against her struggle. "Stop!" she screamed, shaking her head furiously from side to side.

Tsunade's hand paused just a few centimeters on Sakura's shoulders. Hesitantly, she lowered her hands on the white cotton sheets. No matter how much Tsunade wanted to console her or hug her, it wouldn't work. What happened a few hours ago in their small kitchen would repeat itself. Her comforting touch would be _his_ lustful hands against her skin and her gentle voice would be _his _muffled grunts and moans.

"Onegai…" Sakura whispered between ragged breaths. "Leave…"

Tsunade gripped the cotton sheets beneath her palm as she fought the anger building up inside her. It was frustrating and annoying. Tsunade wanted to help her but she can't. She won't let her.

"I hope he rot in hell." Tsunade said through gritted teeth before turning around to leave the room.

Sakura heard the door close shut. She was alone again. Slowly, she fought to even out her breathing and relax her body against the cool linen sheets. As the flood of memories slowly subsides, Sakura slowly pushed open her lids, welcoming the bright light emanating from the single fluorescent bulb placed at the center of the pallid ceiling. She felt the cold air of the air conditioning unit touch the wet trail of tears on her temples. Briefly, her mind drifted back to what Tsunade had said before she left the room and no matter how bad she may sound, she can't help but hope the same thing.

Feeling a new wave of tears forming at the side of her eyes, she brought her hand to rest across her eyes to stop the tears from falling down the side of her temple. She bit her bottom lip and felt the pain as her teeth burrowed deep through the thin layer of sensitive skin. _He_ had been responsible for her every breath. _He _had been there for her all her life. Yet, _he_ was the one who hurt her, broke her and shattered every remaining pieces of trust and courage her mother left her four years ago. Briefly, she wondered if everything would have been different if she hadn't died.

"Completely different…" she whispered against the silent room, her uncontrolled tears still finding their way down her temples. "Definitely different… Okaasan…"

Sobs rocked her small frame as she fought the tears from spilling down her temples. The angelic image of her mother probed against the darkness of her closed eyes. Her warm smiles, her caring touch, and their perfect family of three she held together. Her life kept her and her father strong and happy and her death changed their lives forever.

Suddenly, her father lost his job and became a drunk. Sakura felt his anger and sorrow through the bruises and wounds her body received almost every night of his drunken state. At first, Sakura thought that it everything was alright. The bruises, the wounds, the harsh words, she could take. But last night—

Sakura bit her lip harder and forced the thought to the back of her mind. "Stop it." she ordered herself as she brought her hands to her face and wiped the tears at the side of her temples.

"So it was you." A masculine voice suddenly boomed from the far corner of the room.

Sakura jerked from the bed and stared at the corner where the masculine voice came from. She never heard her door open and hearing someone from across the room from her bed surprised her.

_Love._

The moment her eyes landed on his pale skin, the first thing she saw was the bloody red love tattoo on the side of his forehead. Her eyes drifted down his face and for the second time that night, emerald stared at turquoise.

"Who are you?" Sakura whispered from across the room.

Gaara clenched his fists at his side and glared at the girl across the room. All the while, it was _her_ blood that has been threatening his control. One wrong move and he could expose them to the world. One wrong move and their existence would be threatened. And yet, he quietly ditched Naruto on their way to see Kakashi and went to search for her. And yet, he slipped through her window, promising himself a mere glimpse of her. And yet, he was stood across the room from her, brought himself closer to his addiction, to his temptation, to their threat.

"You…" he gritted, his control slowly slipping away.

Sakura stared at the burning emotion in those turquoise depths glaring at her. Anger? Lust? Hunger? Perhaps a combination of the three? Sakura couldn't really pin point it and that scared her. Slowly, her eyes never leaving his tall frame across the room, she slid backwards towards the cold wall behind her in an attempt to place a greater distance between them as much as possible.

"Who are you?" she asked louder this time. "How did you get in here?"

"Why…?" Gaara's labored voice found their way through his lips. "Why do you affect me this much?"

Sakura's brows furrowed. "What?" she asked innocently, her hands clenching at the satin blanket closer to her body. Last time she checked, she never met him before.

Gaara's predatory eyes caught the movement of her hands. He knew she was scared. He knew deep within his mind that what he was doing was wrong. But the metallic stain on the white bandages wrapped firmly around her wrist broke the last strand of control and rationality he tried to maintain. Abandoning all thoughts and reason, he gave into his craving.

With predatory slowness, he walked closer to the hospital bed just a few feet away from him. His eyes never left the strained bandages on her wrist and he had only two goals in mind: her blood and his satisfaction.

Sakura's fear escalated with his every step. His empty eyes bored into hers and she felt pinned on her spot. Her heart raced and she felt her whole body tremble with dread. She tried to find her voice, hoping that it could at least reach anybody outside her room and stop him.

"Stop…" her voice, however, came as a mere whimper. "Help…"

The fear in her voice aroused his hunger even more. With inhuman speed and movement, Gaara was suddenly on the bed hovering above her trembling form, his hands wrapped tightly around her wrist and pinning them down at her chest. Sakura's breath caught in her throat and her eyes widen from shock.

Slowly, Gaara's head lowered to the exposed skin at the crook of her neck. He felt his prey stiffen from the sudden closeness. He heard her heart beat frantically in her chest. He inhaled deeply, the smell of her blood filling his nose. With uncontrollable hunger, Gaara parted his lips, exposing his pointed teeth a few centimeters against her skin. Exhaling through his open mouth, he poised to sink his teeth into her exposed porcelain skin.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Chapter 2 is up!!!! hope it is to your liking... **thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter!!!!! that somehow inspired me!!!!!! keep the reviews co****ming guys!!!!** anyway, some explanations regarding the chapter:

**1. gaara still has his tattoo and he has eyebrows... LoL!!!! let's make him look a little human, ok???? he might just stand out too much if he doesn't have eyebrows...**

**2. sakura's state will be explained later in the chapters... although i think i already gave a few hints in this chapter... you're all allowed to guess but i think you're all smart enough to know what really happened to her... based on the hint that i wrote in this chapter of course....**

**3. being vampires, naruto and gaara has special abilities of course... the smell of blood is common to both (duh???) but i'm planning on assigning them an individual special ability... in this chapter, naruto's strong sense of hearing was manifested.... ****gaara's ability to smell sakura's blood is not his "special ability".... this will be explained in the next chapter, i promise... although i'm still in the middle of thinking what gaara's special ability could be... if you guys have any idea, don't hesitate to share ok????**

for now, these are some of the things i want to clear. if there are still some questions, feel free to ask and i'll answer them in the next chapter....

**reviews are very much welcome, of course... in fact, i crave them!!!! LoL!!! so don't be shy and hit that review button... you know you want to... till next chap!!!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** His Atonement, Her Existence

**Summary: **His every breath sends him deeper into the pits of hell while her every heartbeat chains her in the arms of emptiness. When they meet, his every breath will become her very existence and her every heartbeat will be his salvation.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine, although, I wished it was mine. But on the brighter side, I can write fanfics to my liking and pair up Gaara and Sakura unlike the manga/anime!!!! LoL!!!!

**Chapter 3:**

Sakura's heart raced against her chest. Her hands trembled helplessly against his iron hands binding them in place. Her body was numb from shock yet every nerve of her being felt him. His surprisingly cold hands wrapped tightly around her trembling wrist. His masculine body pressed heavily against her dainty form. His hot breath teased the bare skin of her neck. She has all the reason to scream for help. Yet, she remained motionless as if waiting for what would happen next, as if waiting for her own death.

"Gaara!!!!" a loud voice suddenly boomed from somewhere in Sakura's room and broke her trance-like state.

Everything happened so fast that it was already over before she could even blink. The next thing she knew, her assailant was already sprawled on the tiled floor of her room with a huge crack on the wall looming just above his head.

"Are you alright?" a gentle masculine voice suddenly got her attention away from her assailant.

She turned her head to look at the owner of the voice and she found herself staring at the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They were gentle with a little hint of worry.

"Please tell me you're not hurt." Naruto worriedly said when Sakura refused to answer his question and just stared at him.

"No, I'm not hurt." Sakura finally managed to whisper, the shock from the events that took place overtaking her body like plague.

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief when he heard her low, gentle whisper. He was about to ask another question when a movement from the far end of the room stopped any further conversation between them.

Sakura tensed on her bed while Naruto hissed angrily through his gritted teeth. Gaara, on the other hand, struggled on his knees. With each movement, the sound of his bones cracking filled the silent room. Tensed emerald orbs seemed to relax with each sound. He was injured, badly, and from the sound of it, he won't be able to do any further damage. Worried cerulean, however, tensed and the low hissing sound escaping his gritted teeth escalated to low warning growls. The cracking noises don't mean damage. They meant healing. Gaara was slowly healing from the damage Naruto inflicted when he threw him towards the wall to stop him from making a mistake. Left with no other choice, Naruto braced himself to stop Gaara and protect their secret.

Gaara, meanwhile, felt the broken bones heal and the pain slowly fade away to nothing. Little by little, he slowly lifted himself from the floor, careful not to stress the muscles that are still in the process of healing. Warily, he looked at the far end of the room and cocked an eyebrow at the scene laid out before him.

"Interesting." Gaara smirked without any hint of guilt from his previous actions.

Sakura gasp and clutched the cotton blankets beneath her palm. "You're not hurt." she whispered as the realization suddenly hit her.

Gaara's smirk grew wider. "Surprised?" he half-asked, half-mocked.

"But that can't be!" Sakura panicked, her arms motioning to the visible crack on the wall behind Gaara. "The wall was damaged! You've got to be hurt somewhere!" Sakura shouted as her mind refused the reality before her.

Gaara shrugged and took a step towards them. Naruto, on the other hand, growled menacingly at his approach.

"Gaara, I'm warning you." Naruto hissed, his eyes trained carefully on Gaara.

Gaara stopped and stared. What could be so special about this girl that he couldn't control the need to have her blood and Naruto couldn't control the urge to protect her from him? Slowly, his eyes dragged towards the girl on the hospital bed. There wasn't anything remarkable about her, except for the ridiculously wide forehead, and yet she stirs up different emotions from two, supposedly, emotionless, cold-hearted vampires.

"Gaara, I'm telling you—" Naruto warned but was cut off when another presence manifested itself by Sakura's door.

"What seems to be the commotion here?" a masculine voice interrupted.

All three pairs of eyes drifted to the owner of the voice. There by the doorstep stood a man in white coat and scrubs. Half of his face was covered with a black cloth, showing only his onyx eyes and the outline of his nose and mouth. He was a typical doctor in Sakura's eyes but one of the strongest vampires in Naruto and Gaara's. Carefully, he approached the trio, his eyes trained carefully on Gaara and Naruto.

Sakura noticed Naruto relax beside her and the menacing aura coming from Gaara diminished gradually as the man approached the pair.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized, his eyes focused entirely on the tiled floor beneath them.

Onyx eyes acknowledged the apology before shifting to Gaara, demanding the same word to come out of the thin line of his lips.

Onyx clashed with turquoise.

"I'm not going to apologize." Gaara firmly stated, his eyes daring the other to demand otherwise.

The man sighed then focused his onyx gaze on the girl sitting defensively on the hospital bed. Sakura stifled a gasp as the man approached her bedside and gave her a gentle smile.

"Sakura Haruno, I'm Dr. Hatake Kakashi." His voice was cold yet gentle. "I apologize for what happened here."

Sakura looked away from the gentle onyx orbs and tried to find the right words to say. Gaara attacking her, Naruto saving her, the huge unbelievable crack on the wall. She couldn't even find the right words to begin and describe what happened. Everything was beyond human. Everything was something else she couldn't point out.

Sakura looked up at Kakashi, the traces of confusion evident in her eyes. "What happened, really?!" she asked. "He's supposed to be lying motionless on the floor! He hit the wall so hard there's a huge visible dent on it! He shouldn't be standing like… like nothing happened!" Sakura's panicked voice escalated with every words that left her mouth.

All three pairs of eyes darted from the other to the next except to the pair of confused emerald orbs waiting for their explanation.

"Care to answer the girl's inquiry?" Kakahis cocked his eyebrow at the two boys standing before him.

Naruto threw an accused look at Gaara. Gaara glared at Naruto. But nobody dared to open their lips and explain.

Kakashi sighed then turned around to face Sakura again.

"They are patients who escaped from the psych ward." Kakashi said with a teasing smile outlined against the cloth covering his mouth.

Naruto fell on the floor and Gaara fought hard the urge to kill the man right there. Kakashi, on the other hand, turned and gave them an innocent look.

"What was I supposed to say?" Kakashi asked innocently. "It's not like you gave any explanation." He continued, defending himself from the deathly glare he was receiving from Gaara.

Gaara glared then sighed. Without saying a word, he turned around and headed for the door. "I'm leaving." He announced as he walked nonchalantly across the room.

Naruto tried to open his mouth to stop him from leaving but the determined look on Gaara's face stopped him from saying anything. Kakashi, however, was not swayed.

"Gaara." Kakahi called out after him, his voice full of authority expected from one of the greatest vampires walking clandestinely across the planet.

Gaara stopped and waited for what Kakashi wanted to say.

"15 minutes. My office." Kakashi announced with so little words yet Gaara and Naruto understood their very meaning.

Gaara nodded once before walking towards the door. As he was about to turn around towards the hallway, he looked back and stared gently at Sakura. Sakura couldn't help but gasp, not from being under the attention of those turquoise orbs but from the gentleness they now manifest. It was as if he was… sorry.

Gaara broke the gentle look and regarded Naruto. "Arigato." He stated simply before completely walking away and disappearing along the hallway.

"For what?" Naruto asked dumbly to himself before a knowing smile spread slowly across his lips when he realized that Gaara was thanking him for stopping him from making a mistake he would surely regret.

"They're not mental patients." Sakura suddenly announced, catching the attention of the two remaining persons in her room.

Kakashi opened his mouth to contradict her statement but the firm look from her emerald orbs stopped him and made him do otherwise. "No they're not." He affirmed, meeting her confused stare with peaceful onyx.

"Of course they're not." Sakura merely said to herself, the shock from the assault slowly wearing off from her confused body. "That guy crossed the entire room in a blink of an eye. That's not possible."

"I'm sure he just walks very fast." Kakashi tried to convince her.

"More like flew!" Sakura almost shouted, the confusion and stress from the assault she received earlier suddenly coping up in her body. "It was like he transported from there to here!" her hand pointed at the directions hysterically. "He was going to do to me what _that man_ did!"

"Sakura, please calm down." Naruto whispered worriedly at Sakura.

"No!" Sakura shouted at Nartuo, who reached out a hand to strain her movements. "Don't touch me! Don't!" she pleaded angrily as she wrapped her hands protectively around her. "He's supposed to be hurt! How is that possible?!"

"Sakura." Kakashi suddenly broke through her hysterics.

Amidst Sakura's hysterics, Kakashi's voice penetrated her confused mind. Breathing heavily, she slowly looked up at Kakashi, expecting a pair of irate onyx. But what she saw, instead, caught her breath in her throat. Kakashi's eyes, they were not onyx. Not anymore. Instead, they were bloody red and she felt like she was being sucked in a pool of blood.

"Sleep." Kakashi's deep masculine voice resonated coldly across Sakura's room.

In the next second, Sakura slumped against the soft cotton sheets of her hospital bed sound asleep.

* * *

Onyx eyes stared menacingly at a pair of cerulean and turquoise. The room was silent except for the humming noise coming from the air conditioning unit placed securely on the wall by the window. The blinds were down and the room was enveloped in semi darkness. Naruto fidgeted in his place, a good five to ten feet away from the large oak table serving as the only protection he has from Kakashi's glare. Gaara remained as composed as ever beside Naruto, barely threatened by the eminent anger coming from Kakashi.

The long, tensed silence between the three occupants of the room continued. The longer the silence was left unbroken, the more Naruto fidgeted and the more Gaara seemed not to care.

Kakashi let out a frustrated sigh. Naruto immediately tensed beside Gaara. With great elegance, Kakashi braced his elbows on the oak table before him and rested his chin.

"What do think you were doing?" Kakashi's strained voice echoed around the silent room and finally broke the tensed silence.

Naruto gasped from the sudden question. For a second, he wished he never wanted the silence to end. Now that he heard the evident anger in Kakashi's voice, Naruto pretty much preferred the tensed silence than Kakashi's deadly voice. Worriedly, he took a sideway glance at Gaara, who doesn't even seem to budge from his position.

"I'm waiting." Kakashi impatiently said when his inquiry was merely awarded with Naruto's nervous glance at Gaara.

"Gaara…" Naruto began nervously, earning a menacing flare from Gaara. Naruto cringed. Kakashi's eyes narrowed into slits, daring him to lie and Gaara was clearly sending him images of his morbid demise if he dare speak another word. It seemed to him that whether he chooses to tell the truth or refuse to speak, he wouldn't be walking out of the room unharmed. That or he would probably die from all the tension.

Opening his mouth, Naruto tried to find an excuse to prolong his life a bit more. "Can I go to the bathroom?" he stupidly asked, earning a ridiculous look from the other two vampires. "I really need to go." He said, giving a goofy grin while scratching the back of his head.

Kakashi sighed once again, dismissing Naruto with a wave of his hand. He is, after all, the one who stopped Gaara.

Gaara seethed at Kakashi's gesture. Naruto beamed then walked towards the door with the goofy grin still plastered on his face.

"Dumbass." Gaara whispered through his teeth as Naruto walked by him.

"At least I get to walk out of the room." Naruto teased, closing the door behind him.

Gaara huffed then crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Kakashi to start his lecture.

"You lost control." Kakashi began carefully.

Gaara averted his gaze. It's not like he could deny the fact from Kakashi. He could read people as accurately as he read words. But admitting it so straightforwardly was also not his option.

"Do you know the risks of what you just did?" Kakashi continued. "You're revealing our existence to humanity. That's a mortal sin for us, you know."

"It went beyond my control." Gaara finally admitted.

Kakashi's brow rose. Surely he was hearing things. Gaara's control is the best among their kind. He could bathe in a pool of human blood and he wouldn't even flinch.

Gaara ignored Kakashi's surprised expression as he made his way towards the window. Through the narrow slits of the blinds, he silently watched the crescent moon looming over the building at the other side of the street. "Her blood…" Gaara tried to explain. "It was everything I could smell. With just a mere molecule, it drowns out everything else. It was driving me to my limits."

A knowing smile crossed Kakashi's lips as he stared at Gaara. "You want to know why." Kakashi said, following Gaara's thoughts.

Gaara glared at Kakashi for reading his thoughts. Kakashi raised his hands as an apology before settling comfortably against the soft leather of his chair.

"I can't tell you why." Kakashi stated, earning a deadly glare from Gaara. He ignored the glare and continued. "It's something you have to find out yourself, Gaara."

Gaara glared harder. His fist clenched tightly at his sides. Gaara wanted answers and Kakashi wasn't giving him any.

"You can glare at me all you want. You don't scare me." Kakashi continued then placed his elbows on the desk. "Now, why don't we talk about the thing you really came here for?"

Gaara's eyes softened then turned serious. He almost forgot why he and Naruto came to see Kakashi. Suddenly, the door to Kakashi's office opened and Naruto walked seriously into the room, completely aware of the flow of discussion that happened during his brief stay outside the room.

"They are on the move." Naruto said, his masculine voice echoing in the silent room as he closed the door tightly behind him. "They want us gone."

"One mistake and they'll eliminate us." Gaara continued.

"I don't recall us ever making a mistake." Kakashi frowned. "Our coven always abides by the rules."

"Our coven." Gaara emphasized. "But not other covens."

"They still feed on human blood." Naruto explained. "They never stopped, Kakashi. The mortals are already alarmed by the increasing number of unexplainable death rates happening around the city. This time, they'll do desperate measures."

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers. "They'll let mortals know about us."

Gaara and Naruto nodded with affirmation.

"They plan on having them on their side when their elimination begins." Kakashi continued, fully understanding the situation Gaara and Naruto wanted to tell him.

"We made a pact though." Kakashi continued, a fierce determination suddenly flaring in his eyes. "As long as no human dies by the hands of our coven, they can't touch us."

"But what about Gaara's problem regarding Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked worriedly, earning a deathly glare from Gaara. "I'm just saying," he uncomfortably explained under Gaara's glare. "if what happened today happened again and we can't stop him, wouldn't that endanger the treaty?"

Kakashi's determined, onyx eyes landed on Gaara. "You won't kill her." He stated firmly but gently.

Gaara tore his gaze, a hint of hesitation flashing on his turquoise orbs. "Easy for you to say." He whispered under his breath.

"No. You won't be able to." Kakashi encouraged. "You'll rather kill yourself than drink her blood."

"But—" Naruto began to protest but was silenced by a raise of Kakashi's hand.

"For now," Kakashi continued, bringing down his hand. "Get settled in the city. I need you here." He commanded, leaving no room for argument. "Go." He said and in the next instant, Naruto and Gaara vanished in front of Kakashi without another word.

All alone in his room and with the darkness surrounding him, Kakashi slammed his palm on the table and cursed through his teeth. Then his eyes drifted to the framed group picture on his table. His onyx eyes softened and stared sadly at the two persons on either side of the picture.

"Vampires don't fall in love." Kakashi whispered still looking at the picture of his best friend and the girl who killed him. "But you did Asuma. And with the signs he's showing towards Haruno, I fear that Gaara might be too. I just hope he doesn't kill himself the way you did to save Kurenai."

* * *

**Author's Note: ** there you go!!!! chapter 3!!!!! sorry it took such a long time before i could update... i've been very busy... anyway, i hope this satisfies my avid reviewers and i hope this gets me more reviews!!!! thanks by the way to those who reviewed the previous chapters!!!! and to those who added the story to their favorite and to those who added me as well to their fav authors!!!! so what are you waiting for???? go click that button!!!! READ AND REVIEW!!!!!


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